9.34 train from Charing Cross (9.37 Waterloo East, 9.43 London Bridge) to Chilham, arriving 11.08
OR
10.04 Southeastern High Speed train from St Pancras to Ashford, arriving 10.42, changing there to the above train at 10.52.
With apologies to the two people who did this walk during Storm Darragh two weeks ago, I have decided to give this walk another outing for those of us who were not so brave.
One reason is to revisit the reopened lunch pub, the Compasses in Sole Street, now operated in quirky style by the people behind the Timber Batts pub (formerly an alternative lunch pub option on the Wye Circular). (Just to illustrate its character, this is a pub that is staging a "wooden man burning" on Christmas Eve, according to its Facebook page… ) A menu of burgers (including vegan ones), pies and ribs is offered. It is only open for lunch at weekends.
The walk itself includes a gentle climb up onto the downs through field and wood in the morning, then a section of downland ridge in the afternoon, with fine views, before descending to Godmersham, where you can see the estate that is featured on the back of the £10 note (for its Jane Austen connections).
The last section into Chilham is on a quiet lane, perfectly doable in the dusk or dark if necessary. There is a new tea room in Chilham, the Church Mouse, but it shuts cruelly early at 4pm. However, the nearby White Horse pub will be open for drinks either hot or cold (and possibly desserts: its website is unclear about food times). Reports of a "cosy log fire" too from recent walkers.
Leave about 20 minutes to get from the village to Chilham station, since there is nowhere nice to wait if you miss the trains, which leave hourly at 15 past, taking 1hr 36 to Charing Cross. If you have paid the high speed supplement, you can save 33 minutes on the homeward journey by changing at Ashford (arrive 28 past, leave 40 past) for St Pancras
.
1 comment:
Rain, 40mph winds. Judging from the forecast I though this might be a repeat of Storm Darragh two weeks ago. But no, mostly it was w=light-winds-and-drips-of-rain. A few gusts in exposed places.
N=5 turned out for this walk, one on the direct train, four on the high speed. A fairly brisk pace was set for the initial climb. Conditions underfoot were not excessively muddy.
Early on we encountered a large group from some other club. We worried they might be headed for the lunch pub and so phoned to book, but we needn’t have worried: we were actually the only customers (and never saw the other group again). The pub is cosy and full of interesting decoration, the staff were friendly and the menu short but interesting. Two niggles were that they appeared not to have the heating on and did not serve hot drinks. A log fire produced minimal warmth.
Three ate, one sandwicher watched us eat (because there were no hot drinks), and one carried on without stopping. In the afternoon the four remaining carried on along the breezy downland section and down to Godmersham, the cue for some suitably Jane Austen-themed chat.
There had been some concern about finishing the walk in daylight on the shortest day of the year, but in fact we got to Chilham by 3.40pm, in time to visit the Church Mouse tea room. This is basically the old Shelly’s under a new name, but no worse for that. They had an array of mouthwatering homemade cakes but none of us had any. Instead two teacakes (one vegan), one scone and a bewildering variety of teas.
We had missed the 16.15 train by this point, so repaired to the White Horse for a drink. This had a big roaring fire and also seemed to have the heating on. We walked in the dark to the very busy 17.15 train (Where were they all coming from?) and three of us got an equally busy 12 car high speed back to Lovely St P.
Post a Comment